Global Tourism and Real Estate

Abstract:     
A rapid increase in travel and tourism has been an integral part of the ongoing wave of globalization. Patterns of global economic growth are impacting tourism activity worldwide. With growing affluence in emerging economies, the pool of international travelers is expanding to include visitors from a broader variety of countries. Increasing cross-cultural contacts and greater access to information regarding tourism attractions in hitherto lesser known parts of the world, increasing fascination with the emerging and developing economies, new forms of tourism activity, such as ecotourism, and increased investment in infrastructure further broaden the destinations of travelers. At the same time, due to the changing business environment and evolving technological and logistical changes, the tourism industry is undergoing major structural changes. Firms historically viewed as tourism-related are shedding and outsourcing non-core activities, and firms in peripheral industries are moving into tourism-related activities. An emphasis on branding and franchising has emerged in concert with an increasingly fragmented ownership pattern of branded tourism facilities, giving flexibility to involvement of different types of owners within the industry.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 54

working papers series